Every seller gets told a number. The number matters far less than where it came from and what happens in the first ten days after the listing goes live.
Tacoma does not move as one market. Two houses of the same size and age, eight blocks apart, can sell for meaningfully different prices because of the street, the view corridor, the school boundary, or what the last three buyers on that block were willing to do. Automated estimates cannot see any of that. They pull from public records and broad averages, and they have no idea whether your foundation was retrofitted or your side sewer was replaced.
Craig prices from what has actually sold nearby in recent months, adjusted for real condition, after walking your house. Then he shows you the comparable sales he used so you can judge the reasoning yourself instead of taking a number on faith.
An agent who quotes you a high number to win the listing is not doing you a favor. Overpriced homes collect days on market, then sell below where they would have landed if they had been priced correctly in week one.
Seven stages, in order, with the money conversation happening at the start instead of at the closing table.
Before any numbers, Craig walks the property with you. Condition, updates, deferred work, and the things a buyer's inspector is going to flag. This is the conversation that determines everything after it.
A valuation from actual recent sales nearby, adjusted for what your house genuinely has and does not have. Alongside it, a written net proceeds estimate covering excise tax, escrow, title, and fees so you know what you walk away with.
A short, specific prep list. What to repair, what to leave and disclose, what to price in. The goal is the highest net, which is not the same as the longest list of improvements.
The first ten days generate the most attention a listing will ever get. Pricing to capture that window beats pricing high and chasing the market down in reductions.
Photography, the written description, and getting it in front of the buyers and agents who are actually active in your price band and neighborhood. Presentation is not decoration, it is what determines showing volume.
Craig reads every offer for more than price. Financing strength, contingencies, timeline, and how likely it is to actually close. Then he negotiates the inspection response so a repair list does not quietly eat your proceeds.
Appraisal, title, final walkthrough, and signing through escrow. Craig reviews the settlement statement with you before you sign it.
Selling a house in Washington carries a handful of rules and costs that catch people who last sold a home somewhere else, or last sold one twenty years ago.
The most expensive mistake a seller makes is not underpricing. It is spending twenty thousand dollars on work buyers were never going to pay extra for.
Paint, deep cleaning, decluttering, landscaping the front, and fixing anything that reads as neglect. These are cheap relative to what they do to the perceived condition of the whole house.
A sewer scope and any resulting repair, resolving a known oil tank, and addressing electrical items that affect insurability. These kill deals late if they surface during inspection instead of before listing.
Kitchens, baths, flooring, and roofs. Sometimes the return is there and sometimes the right move is to price the house honestly and let the buyer do it their way. This is a house by house call, not a rule.
High end finishes chosen to your taste, converting a bedroom into something specific, and major structural additions. You will not get the money back and you may narrow your buyer pool.
You should know your net number before the sign goes in the yard, not after the inspection response.
Not what an automated estimate says. Those pull from public records and broad averages and cannot see your remodel, your view, your foundation work, or the fact that the comparable sale down the street had a failing roof. A real valuation comes from walking the house and pulling what has genuinely sold nearby in the last several months, adjusted for condition. Craig does that in person.
Plan for the brokerage fees agreed in your listing agreement, the state and local real estate excise tax which the seller pays in Washington and which is graduated by sale price, escrow and title fees, prorated property taxes, and any repairs negotiated after inspection. Craig builds a written net proceeds estimate before you list so the number at closing is not a surprise.
No, and spending on the wrong things is one of the most common ways sellers lose money. The work that reliably pays for itself in Tacoma is different from what pays in a newer suburb. Craig walks the house and tells you what to do, what to disclose and leave alone, and what to price in instead.
Often yes, particularly on an older Tacoma home. Knowing what a buyer's inspector will find lets you fix it, price it, or disclose it on your terms rather than renegotiating under pressure two weeks into a contract. It is not right for every listing, and Craig will tell you when it is not worth the cost.
It depends on price, condition, and the specific neighborhood far more than on the season. A correctly priced and properly prepared home in a strong Tacoma pocket moves quickly. An overpriced one sits, collects days on market, and eventually sells for less than it would have if it had been priced right from the first week.
Craig will walk the house, show you the comparable sales he is working from, and give you a written estimate of what you take home. No listing agreement required to have that conversation.
